Key events
29 min It now feels like thew equation of this game is simple: can Barca score more goals due to pressure than Madrid can on the counter? Anyroad, Lamine skirts around the outside of Valverde, who ploughs through him and is booked. Free-kick from the right touchline, Bellingham heading Olmo’s delivery away then blocking the second ball.
27 min Meantime, Barca win a free-kick35 yards out, it’s curled into the box and yields a corner, which Raphinha whacks beyond everyone.
25 min We’ve barely seen Bellingham these first 25 minutes, which makes no sense. The first time I saw him play, I thought he was the closest thing I’d seen to Bryan Robson in a very long time – and there’s no higher praise than that. But once he started scoring goals, Ancelotti started using him to do just that – something similar happened to Cesc Fabregas around 2006-07 – but he’s not the best no 10 in world football or anywhere proximate, whereas he could and should be the best box-to-boxer in the world.
24 min Barca win it high, find Lamine, and he sways to create a shooting lane but can only pass through it; Courtois saves easily enough.
24 min There’s all sorts going on in our Premier League games.
22 min Olmo plays a fine pass across the face of the box with everyone expecting one into the mixer, Martin crosses, the ball is blocked back to him, he goes again, and Torres can’t quite get at it. It’s all Barca now – until it isn’t.
21 min Again, Raphinha escapes, and again, his cross is kicked away. If Barca can avoid conceding again – an if of enormous proportions – they will not lose this game.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid (Garcia 19)
At last a decent corner, snapped by Olmo flat and hard to the near post; a flick-on makes it impossible to defend, and Garcia heads home from eight yards to score his second goal in a week. This match could end in any score!
18 min Raphinha escapes down the left, seizing upon a poor Madrid throw, and his low cross is kicked behind. This time, the corner goes short, and when it’s half-cleared, the ball arrives perfectly into the path of the onrushing Martin, who flows into a drive that Courtois has to tip over!
16 min It’s not that Barca don’t look dangerous – they do – but they just can’t defend.
GOAL! Barcelona 0-2 Real Madrid (Mbappe 14)
Now then! Lamine looks to wriggle forward but Valverde robs him, just about within the laws – BFlick is raging – and Madrid counter, finding Vinicius down the left. The speed of the turnover means Barca aren’t set, Vinicisu curves a square pass with the outside of his boot, and Mbappe, one on one with Szczesny, leans one way, punches the other, and this week is brewing into one of the worst in Barca’s long history!
14 min Mbappe looks in the mood today, pulling left and putting the ball into the box, but Martin makes the challenge on Vinicius.
12 min Pedri out to Martin, who immediately sticks a low cross into the corridor, but no one is able to connect with it – even Olmo, who went way too early and was actually offside.
11 min Madrid find Mbappe on the right, a burst takes him past his man, and he’s crowded out. Then Olmo sets Torres away, but he’s not got the pace to escape Garcia, who slides in to concede a corner … which again comes to nowt.
10 min Our pattern is set, Barca knocking it about and Madrid kicking them while trying to make like they aren’t.
8 min Nice from Barca, Lamine setting Garcia away, he’s into the box, and rather than cut back he looks to surprise Courtois by going for goal, but the keeper beats his effort behind … and the corner comes to nowt.
7 min We said earlier that Madrid ought really to get among Barca from the off; they didn’t, but Barca invited them in, and they’re in big trouble now, forced to gamble against a side primed to eviscerate on the counter.
GOAL! Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid (Mbappe pen 6)
Madrid and Mbappe have had problems with penalties this season and he delays, telegraphs, sweeps towards the bottom-left … Szczesny reads it … but can only palm into the net. Barca are tottering!
5 min No says VAR. Here comes Mbappe…
5 min But was there an offside in build-up?
4 min A terrible error from Cubarsi, a poor pass allowing Mbappe to nick the ball away from Szczesny who, older statesman or not, is who he is, impetuously lunging, taking man not ball, and the ref has no choice but to point to the spot!
3 min There are strong cup-final vibes about this game BUT EXCUSE ME WHILE I INTERRUPT MUSELF, BECAUSE THAT IS A PENALTY TO MADRID!
1 min Immediately, Valverde leaps over Olmo then flings him to the ground. He’s up for this, but Raphinha drifts the free-kick over the by-line for a goalkick.
1 min Away we go!
The picture looks almost like a computer game. It’s quite disconcerting.
Are teams are tunnelled … and here they come! Montjuic is doing its best.
That said, I’m really looking forward to seeing how Guler goes today. He might just be able to set them a modern tempo, dipping and darting between the lines – really, he’s more of a Barcelona player than a Madrid one.
I think Barca will have just enough to win this, but it’s hard to say until we see the effect of the midweek experience on legs and minds. A more proactive team than Madrid would be getting after them from the off, but my sense is they’ll be allowed to settle.
Barca have similarly obvious faults – they don’t know how to defend – but they’re relying on their players developing rather than the coaching and organisation that should make them less open. If Mbappe and Vinicius are at it today, they’re in big trouble.
Those problems Madrid have, which we cited earlier, ought soon to disappear. It looks like it’s a matter of when, not if, Xabi Alonso is confirmed as their new coach, and one thing we know about him is he won’t leave anything to chance. There’ll be no hanging about waiting for something to happen, rather a system inculcated to extract the most from the various ridiculous footballers, with those who don’t like it, or the running it entails, invited to find alternative employment.
Madrid, meanwhile, will want their midfield two to protect their centre-backs, forcing Barca to create from wide rather than central areas. They’ll hope to play off Bellingham, looking to release Vinicius and Mbappe on the counter.
Where is the game? Barca, I imagine, will look to control the ball and stretch the pitch, hoping to get wide overloads or one-on-ones. Their midfield three are so good at finding angles and directing their first touches away from pressure, while Yamal and Raphinha will fancy themselves against Madrid’s full-backs. To beat them, you probably have to score three.
Some reading:
West Ham have taken the lead at Old Trafford. Follow that game along with the rest of the early-afternoon action, here:
I’ve seen a fair bit of Madrid this season, so I wasn’t surprised they were so ruthlessly undressed by Arsenal. They no longer have midfielders able to control a game – or no longer deploy midfielders instructed to control a game – instead kicking about until someone good does something good, or not. That’s enough to win most weeks because the talent is so extreme, but there’s no excuse for the lack of balance and cohesion.
Madrid are also unchanged following last weekend’s win over Celta Vigo. I’m relieved Ancelotti has finally stopped wasting Fede Valverde at right-back – though he may be a better one than this version of Lucas Vazquez, his absence from midfield was more keenly felt, especially in that Arsenal first leg. Otherwise, though, they look extremely vulnerable at the back, shorn of Rudiger, Militao, Mendy, Carvajal and Alaba – against this version of Barcelona, a very significant problem.
Barcelona are unchanged following a brutal 120 minutes in San Siro. I guess that makes some sense – Hansi Flick won’t to suggest to any of his players that he’s disappointed in them, and also wants to field his first XI. But I’m surprised he’s not freshened it up a little, just so there’s are some legs in the side – I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get Lewandowski going again, for one.
I’ll write these down, then we’ll consider what they might mean.
Teams!
Barcelona (4-3-3): Szczesny; Garcia, Cubarsi, Martinez, Martin; De Jong, Pedri, Olmo; Yamal, Torres, Raphinha. Subs: Ter Stegen, Balde, Araujo, Gavi, Lewandowski, Fati, Pena, Christensen, Lopez, Casado, Victor, Fort.
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Vazquez, Asencio, Tchouameni, Fran; Valverde, Ceballos; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe. Subs: Modric, Rodrygo, Lunin, Endrick, Vallejo, Diaz, Yusi, Ramon, Mestre, Munoz.
Preamble
It’s amazing, given what we know about football – the pettiest existence in the world save government – that sometimes, we forget there are fall-guys.
We’ve been in raptures these last two-and-a-half weeks, kvelling at all-time great Champions League tie between Barcelona and Inter; rightly so. But because most of us are ambivalent as regards who actually won it, instead centring our experience of watching it, the potentially life-altering manner in which glorious victory turned into – was turned into – devastating defeat, is not our preoccupation.
Make no mistake, though, Barca are nurturing a penetrating sickness they may never fully assuage. So the last thing – but perhaps also the first thing – they need this afternoon is the visit of Real Madrid, league title on the line.
If Barca win today, they go seven points clear with three games to go, their lead almost unassailable. But if they lose it’s down to a point, with a nasty run in to come: an away derby, fifth-placed Villarreal at home, Athletic Club away; by way of contrast, Madrid face Mallorca home, Sevilla away, Sociedad home.
And make no mistake, Carlo Ancelotti’s men know this is their time. They’ll still be smarting after their own Champions League exit, beaten home and away by Arsenal, their structural weaknesses paraded in front of the world. Or, in other words, their season stands on the cusp of failure – they’ve also been walloped 4-0 in their home clásico, then again 5-2 in the Supercopa clásico, and last month they were pipped in extra time of the clásico Copa del Rey final. Not many Real Madrid sides have endured a season of so many humiliations, never mind one comprising some of the best and most expensive players on the planet. This, though, is their chance to save themselves – and if they do, this timer you can be sure we won’t neglect the unfathomable misery of the losers.
Kick-off: 4.15pm local, 3.15pm BST
